Book Review:
Twisted Reveries By Meg Hafdahl
‘I saw the dead creatures below, red running into the snow’ – Terrifying tales!!
Minnesota author Meg Hafdahl writes horror and suspense stories that have been included in anthologies as well as her own short story collections, novels, and series – The Willoughby Chronicles (three volumes) and Twisted Reveries – three volumes, of which this book is the initial volume. She has also co-authored The Science of Monsters, The Science of Women in Horror, The Science of Stephen King, and The Science of Serial Killers. Meg is the co-host of the podcast Horror Rewind.
Capitalizing on the current advances in feminine impact (#HerToo, #HerStory, #MeToo, etc), Meg’s stories are driven by strong women leads. Her prose is elegant and able to draw the reader into the thirteen suspense-filled, terrifying tales. An example from GUTS validates her stature as a writer: ‘I have a scar on my belly. It’s a wretched, milky white line that crawls from the bottom of my abdomen until it meets my belly button. When I saw it for the first time, still cloudy with drugs, I was struck with how deep the divot of the cut went into my formerly unblemished stomach. I remembered how my husband had kissed my belly once, long before the surgery, and said he loved the smoothness of my skin all over. This memory made tears trickle down my cheeks. But I couldn’t sob in my hands or pull in a hitching breath, because it would hurt my guts too much…’ Kelly is in a hospital environment that is about to turn terrifying. And as the author condenses the plot, ‘A group of strangers, including fearful Kelly, are trapped in the infusion ward of a hospital, and something hungry is targeting their weaknesses. Will Kelly dig deep and find her Guts?’
That is but one of the thirteen throbbing, pulsating tales that fill this fine collection. Meg Hafdahl has mastered the horror/macabre genre. She is most assuredly an artist of importance. Highly recommended. Grady Harp Review
